Megalithic Culture

The Megalithic Yard

Prehistoric Maths

The survey carried out by Prof. Alexander Thom of over 300 European megalithic sites led him to conclude that the builders had used standard units of measurement which, along with a highly developed knowledge of geometry, (including Pythagorean principles), were used in the design of many of western Europe's most significant pre-historic constructions.

( 1 MY = 2.72 ft or 82.96 cm )

As Professor Thom observed in his book  Megalithic Sites in Britain (1967):

“It is remarkable that one thousand years before the earliest mathematicians of classical Greece, people in these islands not only had a practical knowledge of geometry and were capable of setting out elaborate geometrical designs but could also set out ellipses based on the Pythagorean triangles.”

Prof. Alexander Thom (1894-1985)

Alexander Thom was born in Scotland in 1894. He became a Professor of engineering at Oxford university, and held the position for over fifteen years from 1945 till he retired in 1961. He died in 1985.

Thom   believed that stone circles were astronomical observatories and in 1951 he published an article in the Journal of the British Astronomical Association entitled. 'The Solar Observations of Megalithic Man'.

Thom initially undertook a statistical analysis of 46 stone circles and by plotting his measurements on a graph, he noted that many of the diameters of the stone circles came clumped together in groups, there were several examples with close to 22 foot (6.7 m) diameters, another group measuring c. 44 feet (13.4 m) across and another measuring c. 55 feet (16.8 m). A best fit for these results implied a common factor of 5.43 feet (1.65 m) which he believed could have served as a manageable unit for measuring out figures on the ground. In 1955, following this study, he published an article of his findings in the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society  entitled:  'A Statistical Examination of Megalithic Sites in Britain'.

(Thom went on to survey more than 300 sites, becoming increasingly convinced of the yard's existence).

Analytical methods employed by the British statisticians S.R. Broadbent and D.G. Kendall  indicate that the 1955 dataset has a 1% significance meaning that such a best fit would only occur in 1 in 100 random datasets. Other archaeo-statisticians consider Thom's original 5.43 feet, the so-called megalithic fathom to provide a more persuasive argument for a standard prehistoric measurement unit.

Books by Thom:

• Megalithic Sites in Britain. Oxford Press. 1967.
• Megalithic Lunar Observatories.  Oxford Press. 1971.
• Megalithic Remains in Britain and Brittany. Oxford Press. 1978.

Thom also concluded that certain spirals had been drawn with a constant measurement which he termed the 'megalithic inch'

The Origin of the Megalithic Yard

The origin for this standard unit of measurement has been  suggested by Knight & Lomas (1), to be a product of the following procedure:

There are 366 sunrises per orbit of the sun, therefore one 366th part of the horizon = 1 megalithic degree. First place two posts at 1 degree apart on the horizon (They do not explain how this is done). Then swing a pendulum so that it beats 366 times in the time it takes a star to travel between the posts (This is a very specific request, which would require a metronome). The length of line required for the pendulum will be 16.32 inches in length = half a megalithic yard. (1)

Criticisms of their calculations still produce a result that is accurate to within a couple of millimetres. i.e. a line of 16.19" compared with Lomas' and knight's 16.32" - (A difference of only 0.13")

Follow this link to calculate this prehistoric measurement unit for yourself:

http://www.robertlomas.com/megyard/index.html

In a follow-up to this theory (2), it was argued that megalithic geometry was based on a 366˚ circle rather than the 360˚ circle that we use today. With each degree divided into 60 arc minutes, and each minute into 6 arc seconds, which would have resulted in each arc second having been equal to 366 Megalithic yards. If this theory is correct, the Megalithic yard would have been a perfect subdivision of the Earth's polar circumference: 40,008,000/(366x60x6x366)=0.8296 metres.

The idea of an ancient 366˚ division of the heavens has been suggested before, and may be gathering weight. In principle it is a reasonable suggestion, but evidence is suggesting that time was also measured according to the 'Metonic cycle' a combined solar and lunar cycle with a variation of only 2 hours over 19 solar years (or 235 lunations). In addition, there is also plenty of evidence that a division of 360˚ was used for the geodetic placement and internal geometry of the megaliths.

More about Ancient Geodesy

Robin Heath (3), suggested that the Megalithic yard was linked to the Metonic cycle, (in which the earth orbits the sun 18.6 times while the moon has 235 lunation's). He proposed that if the measurement of time is transferred to the measurement of space (i.e. each day = one Megalithic Inch 'MI'), then the difference between the solar and lunar cycles over a three year solar period amount to a deficit of 1.104812 lunation's, which amounts to 32.625 days: which if transferred into Megalithic Inches 'MI' (one MI = one solar day), equals 2.7188 ft.  A figure extremely close to Thom's estimate of 2.72 ft.

More about Archaeoastronomy

It has also been reasonably argued that as the results attained by Thom were merely averages, and that many circles show a slight variation on this measurement, (one that even Thom himself was at odds to explain), it is possible that the radius of circles and other prominent sites was simply determined by pacing rather than with a string and stakes as suggested by Thom. The length of the Megalithic Yard falls close to the average pace of an adult male (at 0.7m).

Examples of the Megalithic Yard

Stonehenge:  The Sarsen stones at Stonehenge are 2.5 MY wide, a length that is also known as a Megalithic Rod 'MR' The perimeter length of the sarsen ring measured 120 MY, and since the circle consists of 30 stones, the average stone spacing is 4 MY.

More about Stonehenge

Avebury:  Of great interest is the fact that the distance between the stone-centres at Avebury is 11.04m, a measurement which appears to conform especially to the stones of the inner circles. This measure however, does not fit with the theory of the Megalithic yard, amounting to 13.3 MY or 5.3 MR    (4), which suggests that there may have been other factors influencing the placement of these stones.

It is noticeable that although the Megalithic yard was not used for the seperation of the stones at Avebury, the geometric design (below) was discovered by Prof. Thom to have been used as the ground-plan of the site, (along with many other European   'Type I' and 'Type II' flattened  stone circles).

(Note: Both type I and II circles possess the Vesica-Pisces and 3:4:5 triangles)

More about Avebury

Carnac: "Thom and Thom (1978) make two significant claims with regard to the Carnac alignments: firstly that both the alignments themselves and the stone circles were laid out according to a precise geometry, with a standard unit of measurement (the ‘Megalithic Yard’), and secondly that the alignments form part of an extrapolation device for predicting eclipses, linked to a ‘lunar observatory’ centred on the Grand Menhir Brisée at Lochmariaquer.

More about Carnac

Estimates of the sizes of the stones of the original structure at Le Grand Menhir Brisè suggest the use of the MY in its construction.

Le Grand Menhir and the Megalithic yard

Megalithic Geometry

As long ago as the 1880s, Flinders Petrie, who accurately surveyed Stonehenge, stated that the inside diameter of the sarsen circle was intended to be 100 Roman feet or 97.318ft.  This is within one twentieth of an inch of its absolute value of 97.32096ft.

The Megalithic yard (32.4 inches) is virtually duplicated in the ancient Vara of Iberia (Iberia meaning 'Hebrews'), which was the former name for Spain and in the Gaz measurement of Northern India.

There is a substantial amount of evidence suggesting that prehistoric people were aware of geometry. The first recorded evidence of geometry came from Sir. N. Lockyer, who noticed that Stonehenge was geometrically aligned with both Grovely Castle and Old Sarum.

Other Geometric alignments

(Stone Circles and Measuring Wheels: An Article By Michael Spender)

• Metar

Megalithic builders

 
Haplogroup I2a - Haplogroup I2a2

Dolmen Basque

Sorginetxe dolmen next to the stream and cave Lezao, home to legends featuring mythological character Mari.

Dolmen u Dalmaciji

Tugare, zaseok Truše

Struktura ima sve značajke dolmen i definitivno izgleda kao jedan. To je na Wikipediji na dolmens: dolmen , također poznat kao kromleh , portal grobnice , portalnu grobnice ili alka je vrsta jednokomorni megalitskog grobnice , obično se sastoje od dva ili više uspravnih kamenja podržava veliku ravnu horizontalnu završni kamen (tablica ), iako postoje i složenije varijante. Većina datuma iz ranog neolita razdoblja (4000 do 3000 prije Krista). Dolmeni su obično bili pokriveni zemljanim ili manjim kamenjem da bi se formirala barrow . U mnogim je slučajevima taj pokrov bio odstranjen, ostavljajući samo kameni "kostur" grobnice netaknut.

Dolmeni su karakteristični za većinu Europe i Azije, ali gotovo u Hrvatskoj nisu otkriveni. Postoji samo jedan na otoku Cresu:  http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=15452

Falus (čunčur) u Dalmaciji

Granica Trogira i Splita (falus)

Arheolozi su 1999. godine u Spili (kod zaseoka Nakovana, između Orebića i Lovišta na poluotoku Pelješcu u Dalmaciji) u jednoj dobro skrivenoj dvorani špilje pronašli ilirsko svetište plodnosti. Nalazilo se u središtu pećine u kojemu je centralni kultni simbol bio stalagmit u obliku falusa.

Cromlêh - Stone circle in Dalmatia

 
Mosor

Göbekli Tepe

Göbekli Tepe

Nabta Playa

Nabta Playa was once a large basin in the Nubian Desert, located approximately 800 kilometers south of modern day Cairo or about 100 kilometers west of Abu Simbel in southern Egypt, 22° 32′ north, 30° 42′ east. Today the region is characterized by numerous archaeological sites.

Although at present the western Egyptian desert is totally dry, this was not the case in the past. There is good evidence that there were several humid periods in the past (when up to 500 mm of rain would fall per year) the most recent one during the last interglacial and early last glaciation periods which stretched between 130,000 and 70,000 years ago. During this time, the area was a savanna and supported numerous animals such as extinct buffalo and large giraffes, varieties of antelope and gazelle. Beginning around the 10th millennium BC, this region of the Nubian Desert began to receive more rainfall, filling a lake. Early people may have been attracted to the region due to the source of water.

Archaeological findings may indicate human occupation in the region dating to at least somewhere around the 10th and 8th millennia BC. Fred Wendorf and Christopher Ehret have suggested that the people who occupied this region at that time were early pastoralists, or like the Saami practiced semi-pastoralism (although this is disputed by other sources because the cattle remains found at Nabta have been shown to be morphologically wild in several studies, and nearby Saharan sites such as Uan Afada in Libya were penning wild Barbary sheep, an animal that was never domesticated). The people of that time consumed and stored wild sorghum, and used ceramics adorned by complicated painted patterns created perhaps by using combs made from fish bone and which belong to a general pottery tradition strongly associated with the southern parts of the sahara (e.g., of the Khartoum mesolithic and various contemporary sites in Chad) of that period.

Analysis of human remains by archaeologist Fred Wendorf and reported in “Holocene settlement of the Egyptian Sahara”, based on osteological data suggests a subsaharan origin for the site’s inhabitants. Several scholars also support a Nilo-Saharan linguistic affinity for the Nabta people; including the site’s discoverer, archaeologist Fred Wendorf and the linguist, Christopher Ehret.

By the 7th millennium BC, exceedingly large and organized settlements were found in the region, relying on deep wells for sources of water. Huts were constructed in straight rows. Sustenance included fruit, legumes, millets, sorghum and tubers.

Also in the late 7th millennium BC, but a little later than the time referred to above, imported goats and sheep, apparently from Southwest Asia, appear. Many large hearths also appear.

By the 6th millennium BC, evidence of a prehistoric religion or cult appears, with a number of sacrificed cattle buried in stone-roofed chambers lined with clay. It has been suggested that the associated cattle cult indicated in Nabta Playa marks an early evolution of Ancient Egypt’s Hathor cult.

By the 5th millennium BC these peoples had fashioned one of the world’s earliest known archeoastronomical devices (roughly contemporary to the Goseck circle in Germany and the Mnajdra megalithic temple complex in Malta). Research suggests that it may have been a prehistoric “calendar” marking the summer solstice.

Nabta Playa

Zorats Karer

Zorats Karer, also called Karahunj or Carahunge) is an ancient archaeological site near the city of Sisian in the Syunik province of Armenia.

Zorats Karer

Aegean ships

Around 7250 BC inhabitants of Greece traveled from the mainland to the island of Melos or Milos using papyrus boats (papyrela). The evidence is the discovery of obsidian pieces that exists only in Melos and which were found in the Greek mainland ( Franchthi cavern) and also in Cyprus. A reconstruction was used in an experiment in 1988. The experiment showed that the papyrela boat could be used for a travel from the island of Corfu to the Peloponesse. The information I have is that even until 1990 some fishermen used similar papyrus boats.

Aegean Ships

The Aegean has since prehistoric times been a sea that has united rather than separated the large or small islands. Between these islands, there were narrow sea passages and shallow gulfs, accessible by some primitive sailing means. Navigation in the Aegean, has been testified by the tools made of Melian obsidian which were found in Franchthi Cave in Hermionid (at the eastern coast of the Peloponnese, a distance of 80 nautical miles (approximately 150 kilometers) from Melos. Tools made of Melian obsidian also found on Crete (Knossos) and on Cyprus, substantiate the existence of sea routes in the Aegean from the Early till the Final Neolithic (6800-3200 BC). They made a boat exclusively from papyrus, an aquatic plant which can be found near water areas of Greece ( as well as on the river Nile in Egypt). A similar boat was used until recently in Kerkyra. The "papyrela" could easily travel from Lavrion to Milos. Its crew would use kayak oars for navigation. It has also been proven that men in the Greek prehistoric period could travel by sea using natural material offered by the domestic world of Greece and also using simple techniques such as the one of straw mats.

Evidence for ship construction in Aegean Bronze Age comprises 358 catalogue entries, these being 44 models, 173 linear representations (wall paintings, vase paintings, incisions) and 141 glyptic images. Crete provides over 55 per cent of the catalogue, the islands and the mainland less than 25 per cent each. Whereas the Minoan material is spread out over a timespan of a millenium (2500-1500 BC), the Cycladic documents are concentrated to the Early Cycladic II period, and to the site of Akrotiri in Late Minoan IA, while the mainland sees a scattering of inconsequential evidence down to the final phases of the Bronze Age, when a slight increase becomes manifest.
The typological classification of the Aegean ship is mainly based on the evolution of hull shapes as per Dr. Michael Wedde works (*0)

• Aegean ships

Ognjište usred kuće

Ognjište usred kuće - Pre-Pottery Neolithic

Ognjište usred kuće - Lepenski Vir

 
Ognjište usred kuće - Skara Brae

 
Ognjište usred kuće - Skara Brae

 
Ognjište usred kuće - Skara Brae

Y-DNA I2a1 & I2a2, 100%

The Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni and an unknown race with elongated skulls

Many ancient megalithic structures exist in Malta and one of them is the ‘Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni’, a subterranean structure with magnificent properties that is more than 5,000 years old. The Hypogeum (a Greek word meaning ‘underground’) is supposed to be the oldest prehistoric underground temple in the world.

The discovery of this incredible site was made in 1902 when construction workers, who were excavating to build the foundations of a building, stumbled upon what appeared to be an underground sanctuary.  When archaeologists began uncovering the site, they found a massive underground structure consisting of three levels carved into stone. It has been estimated that more than 2,000 tonnes of stone would have needed to be removed for its construction.

Today the whole of the Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni is underground, but in the past the main entrance was on the surface, decorated with megaliths. On the walls of the Hypogeum many different patterns in red ochre were found.  Shapes like spirals, pentagons, floral patterns, and even the outline of a bull adorned the walls.

Within the Hypogeum, archaeologists have uncovered tombs, rooms of unknown function, and a ‘Main Chamber’, which is a circular room carved into rock with a few trilithon entrances. In this room, the statue of a sleeping lady was found (as shown in the picture). Other rooms include the ‘Decorated room’, the ‘Snake Pit’ and the ‘Holy of Holies’, and the ‘Oracle room’, a rectangular-shaped room which has very peculiar acoustic characteristics.

The acoustic properties of the ‘Oracle room’ have been studied extensively by researchers. Anything spoken in that room is heard all throughout the Hypogeum.  Furthermore, some research has shown that the acoustic properties of the reverberating sound affects human emotions. Research done by Paolo Debertolis and Niccolo Bisconti of the Universities of Triests and Siena respectively, has shown that the construction of the chamber was made in a way to affect the psyche of people, perhaps to enhance mystical experiences during rituals. The use of fractal non-linear resonances, which appear in the acoustics of the Hypogeum, is something that modern science has just started to investigate and the results show that these type of frequencies have the ability to alter matter.

The ‘Sleeping Lady’ found in the Main Chamber, along with other figurines found within the Hypogeum all display ‘abundant forms’.  In other words, the figures appear to be extremely obese, and there is no agreement as to why this may be.

One particularly interesting fact about the Hypogeum is that when it was discovered, 7,000 skeletons were found piled within the chambers.  What’s more is that they had a unique characteristic – elongated skulls – and one of the skulls (out of only a handful that survived) lacked the Fossa median (the join that runs along the top of the skull).  It is known that some of the skulls were on display in the Archaeological Museum in Valletta. However, after 1985 all the skulls that had been found in the Hypogeum, along with other elongated skulls found across multiple ancient sites in Malta, disappeared without a trace, and have never been recovered. What remains to testify their existence and their abnormality are the photos of Dr Anton Mifsud , and his colleague Dr Charles Savona Ventura, and their books detailing the abnormalities of the skulls, including: elongation, abnormally developed temporal partitions, and drilled and swollen occiputs.  Supporting the finding is an extract written in the National Geographic magazine in the 1920s describing the first inhabitants of Malta as a race with elongated skulls:

From an examination of the skeletons of the polished-stone age, it appears that the early inhabitants of Malta were a race of long-skulled people of lower medium height, akin to the early people of Egypt, who spread westward along the north coast of Africa, whence some went to Malta and Sicily and others to Sardinia and Spain.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE January to June, 1920 VOLUME XXXVII

It is, of course, highly suspicious that the evidence for such a significant discovery went missing.  It appears to suggest that someone wished to keep the results of the finding out of public knowledge, and perhaps out of the hands of researchers.

A race of people with elongated skulls, a chamber of unbelievable acoustic properties, and the mysterious disappearance of more than 7,000 skulls makes you think that something very special happened in this place, yet very few people to know about it, and it appears someone wanted it to be this way.

Neolithic circular enclosures in Central Europe

Reconstruction of circular ditches at Heldenberg, Lower Austria

Neolithic circular enclosures in Central Europe

Goseck circle, c. 4900 BC

Drawing of the Goseck circle.
The yellow lines represent the direction in which the sun rises and sets at the winter solstice,
while the vertical line shows the astronomical meridian.

The structures known as Circular Enclosures built in Central Europe during the 5th millennium BCE have been interpreted as serving a cultic function. In the case of the Goseck circle. Many of these structures had openings aligned with sunset and/or sunrise at the solstices, suggesting that they served as a means of maintaining a lunisolar calendar. The construction of Megalithic monuments in Europe also began in the 5th millennium, and continued throughout the Neolithic and in some areas well into the early Bronze Age.

Stone circle

Stone circle

Bogovo gumno

Bogovo gumno je lokalitet u Srbiji, kod sela Skrobnica, u opštini Knjaževac. Nalazi se na obroncima planine Device, na brdu, na nadmorskoj visini oko 950m. Naziv lokaliteta je svakako neobičan. Kakvo je to gumno koje pripada Bogu?

Vuk Karadžić, u svom Riječniku Srpskog jezika o gumnu kaže sledeće:

“Gumno, n. Die Drefchtenne, area. U Crnoj Gori i onuda po primorju, gumna su postavljena i okolomaćena kamenom. Onamo se ponajviše po gumnima IGRA (jer su mnoge kuće po takovoj vrleti da valja tražiti mjesto gdje se može igrati) a i ljudi na kolomatu njihovom sjede i dogovaraju se za različne stvari. Među one stvari koje djevojci ne mogu dospeti, broji se onamo i gumno.”

Prema Vuku Karadžiću, gumno je, dakle, prostor okruglog oblika, namenjen prvenstveno za vršidbu žita.

Gumno u Orahovcu, u Boki kotorskoj

U centru gumna je po pravilu poboden kolac, stožer, za koga se vezuje konj, koji ide po žitu vukući za sobom nekakvu dasku, odvajajući na taj način zrno žita od pleve. Baš kako Vuk Karadžić kaže, prostor je zgodan i za okupljanja i naravno, ples. Taj ples podrazumeva KOLO (ili oro) gde igrači igraju u krug, držeći se za ruke. To su praktični aspekti jednog gumna, ali ne i njegovi jedini aspekti.

Gumno je mesto gde se odvijaju i različiti obredi, kojima se priziva plodnost i dobra žetva. U tu svrhu, na određeni dan se na gumnu kolje petao, tako da njegova krv poškropi stožer. U Rusiji, veruje se da na gumnu živi Gumnik ili Ovinik, mitsko biće koje se zamišlja kao starac bele brade, a koje je gospodar žetve. U Srbiji se veruje da se na pometnom (zapuštenom) gumnu skupljaju veštice, koje se tu namažu tajanstvenom veštičjom mašću, kako bi mogle da lete…

Gumna se pominju u narodnim pesmama: (ove stihove Vuk Karadžić navodi uz tekst o gumnu)

Igrah se zlatnom jabukom
Po polju, po medenome,
Po GUMNU, po srebrnome…

Ovi stihovi kriju u sebi simboliku. Bez simbolike bi bili po malo besmisleni. Jabuka je uobičajeni simbol za SUNCE. Da li to narodni pesnik saopštava da gumno može imati još jednu namenu: posmatranje Sunca? Zar nije krug kod Gosecka u Nemačkoj, za koji je dokazano da je imao baš takvu svrhu i to još u ranom neolitu, nalik na jedno veliko gumno?

Krug kod Gosecka u Nemačkoj, star 6700-6900 godina; njegova astronomska namena je dokazana

Gumna su, očigledno, važna. Koliko bi tek moglo da bude važno jedno gumno koje je posvećeno najvišem principu, Bogu? To je svakako dovoljan razlog da se taj lokalitet bolje pogleda.

Na sledećoj slici je lokalitet Bogovo gumno, snimljen iz vazduha. Jasno se uočavaju dve kružne formacije, veća je prečnika 117m, manja 80m. Izračunat obim većeg kruga je 367,8m, pa 1° obima iznosi 1,02m. Manji krug je oštećen, neko je pokušao da ga ore. Ipak, na terenu se lako nalaze tragovi ograde čak i tamo gde se na snimku iz vazduha čini da je nema.

Bogovo Gumno, snimljeno iz vazduha

Vidi se i da su oba kruga nekada bila ograđena kamenom (Vuk Karadžić bi rekao „okolomaćena“). Delovi ograde se još uvek jasno vide, i ako je mestimično veoma oštećena. U selu Skrobnici kažu da je ograda bila od „dobrog krečnjaka“, pa je često kradena za pečenje kreča i to samo u poslednjih 50 godina. Do tada, kreč se znatno manje koristio u gradnji kuća, koje su se pravile od drveta i naboja. Duž ostataka ograde posađeno je drveće i žbunje. Upravo tamo gde je to žbunje bilo bodljikavo, ograda se najbolje sačuvala. Oko većeg kruga može se videti dosta jorgovana i gloga, tu je i dren, divlja kruška, kalina, vrba i leska, sa mnogo divljih božura. Za sve ove biljke je sigurno da su imale svoj značaj u narodnoj religiji Srba, o tome su pisali Čajkanović i Sofrić. Ima se utisak ih je neko tu namerno sadio, te da je reč o nekakvom svetom mestu.

Utisak pojačava zavetni krst, posvećen Ognjenoj Mariji, koji se nalazi u većem krugu, 15-20m severoistočno od njegovog centra. Na krstu je natpis, koji pokazuje da je podignut 1938.godine, te da ga je podigla izvesna Rosa sa svojim sinovima i posvetila ga Ognjenoj Mariji, za zdravlje ljudi i stoke i za berićet u polju.

Ognjena Marija je poznata iz narodne religije Srba i Bugara kao gospodarica vatre i zmija. Veruje se da je gromovnikova sestra, koja munjom pali vatru. Njen praznik je 30 jula po gregorijanskom kalendaru.

Zavetni krst na Bogovom gumnu, posvećen Ognjenoj Mariji

Na terenu smo se uverili da se kamena ploča ispred krsta može podići i da ispod nje i danas stoji keramička kadionica. To sugeriše da i danas tu neko dolazi i pali tamjam. Ova slika pokazuje još nešto veoma važno: kada posmatrač stoji unutar većeg kruga na Bogovom gumnu, horizont je u visini njegovih očiju a on ne vidi ništa drugo osim oboda kruga i neba. Ovo znači da je mesto upravo idealno za posmatranje neba, jer je horizont ravan, astronomi bi rekli „matematički“, a vidi se cela nebeska hemisfera. S obzirom da mesto nije zagađeno veštačkom svetlošću, jer u blizini nema velikih naselja, u vedroj noći doživljaj neba je upravo fascinantan: vidi se neuporedivo više zvezda nego kada se gleda iz Beograda, izgledaju mnogo krupnije i blistavije, Mlečni put se vidi potpuno jasno. Vazduh je čist, planinski, pa će svetlost Meseca, kada padne na ovaj krst, učiniti da njegova senka bude jasno vidljiva. Na sve to, postoji i jedan „carski“ makroorijentir. Iz centra većeg kruga na Bogovom gumnu, vidi se najviši vrh Stare planine, Midžor (2169m), koji se nalazi približno na istoku (43° 23′ 42″ N, 22° 40′ 37.92″ E).

Sve ovo ukazuje da je Bogovo gumno veoma verovatno namerno napravljeno kako bi se sa njega posmatralo nebo i nebeska tela. Previše je veliko da bi stvarno bilo gumno. Za stožer u njegovom centru bi se moglo vezati 50 konja od jednom, koji bi išli u krug i vrli žito. Tako nešto je sasvim malo verovatno. Znatno je verovatnije da se ovde neko „igrao zlatnom jabukom“, to jest, posmatrao Sunce.

Satelitski snimak Bogovog gumna

Treba videti da li su ova dva kruga u nekom, astronomski značajnom odnosu. Da bi se to ispitalo, odredili smo precizne geografske koordinate:

Centra manjeg kruga:

Geografska širina:         43° 33′ 56,48”
Geografska dužina:       22° 01′ 51,18”

U WGS sistemu (UTM zona 34N):

Y¹ = 0583251
X¹ = 4824153

Centra većeg kruga:

Geografska širina:       43° 33′ 54,19” N
Geografska dužina:     22° 01′ 46,32” E

U WGS 84 sistemu (UTM zona 34N)

Y = 0583143
X = 4824081

S obzirom da su WGS koordinate date u istim mernim jedinicama, na osnovu njih se, prema zakonitostima trigonometrije, može izračunati pravac koji je definisan ovim dvema tačkama (centar većeg i centar manjeg kruga). Proračun pokazuje da je pravac definisan tim tačkama na azm. 56,3099° t.j. 56° 18′ 35,64” u klasičnom sistemu, sa stepenima, minutima i sekundama.

Prema astronomskom softveru RedShift 7, na dugodnevicu 2012. godine, 21.juna, Sunce je na Bogovom gumnu izišlo ovako:

Prvi zrak Sunca se video na                          azm. 55° 42′
Polovina Sunčevog diska se videla na        azm. 56° 03′
Ceo Sunčev disk je izišao na                        azm. 56° 24′

Treba napomenuti da je uzeta u obzir prosečna atmosferska refrakcija svetlosti na horizontu pri davanju zadatka kompjuterskom softveru, a vrednosti prosečne refrakcije su određene prema merenjima Sampsona i saradnika, 2008.godine.

Jasno je da je azimut izlaska celog Sunčevog diska na dugodnevicu, na Bogovom gumnu gotovo identičan azimutu pravca koji je definisam centrom većeg i centrom manjeg kruga. Razlika iznosi samo 6 ugaonih minuta. Kada uzmemo u obzir da krugovi na ovom lokalitetu nisu napravljeni danas, nego bar pre nekoliko vekova, i kada znamo da je tada Zemljina osa bila malo više nagnuta u odnosu na ekliptiku nego danas, shvatamo da je mesto izlaska Sunca bilo za nekoliko lučnih minuta severnije, te bi to moglo da objasni razliku u azimutima. Ali, pošto ovaj lokalitet nije arheološki istražen (nije čak ni registrovan), pa se ne zna tačno kada su krugovi na njemu načinjeni, ne može se izvesti precizniji proračun.

Na lokalitetu se može potvrditi da na obodu većeg kruga, na pravcu izlaska Sunca na dugodnevicu, postoji jedna gomila kamenja, koja jasno štrči iz trave i lako se uočava iz centra. Na dugodnevicu će Sunce izići tačno iznad te gomile kamenja, ako se posmatra iz centra. I na terenu, kao i na satelitskim mapama, vidi se da na tom delu obima većeg kruga nema žbunja, koje bi ometalo posmatranje.

Ali, to nije sve. Ako se posmatra od zavetnog krsta posvećenog Ognjenoj Mariji, iznad iste te gomile kamenja će Sunce izići tačno na dan Ognjene Marije, 30.jula. To upućuje da je lokalitet sačuvao svoju, autentičnu namenu sve do skora, do 1938.godine, kada je Rosa iz Skrobnice podigla tu svoj zavetni krst. Taj krst ima i svoju „nišansku spravu“, u obliku dve kalote na vrhu. Kada stanete iza njega i „nanišanite“ napred pomenutu gomilu kamenja tako da se ona vidi između te dve kalote, imate tačan pravac izlaska Sunca na dan Ognjene Marije (azm. 62° 50′). Rosa je, očigledno, znala kako se ovo mesto koristi. U selu još uvek ima ljudi koji su je poznavali, ali niko nije mogao da kaže ko ju je naučio toj veštini.

Kada se bolje pogledaju odnosi krugova na Bogovom gumnu, vidi se da tangenta, povučena iz centra većeg kruga na obim manjeg kruga, definiše pravac izlaska Sunca na dan 23.aprila i 19.avgusta, a to su dani kada je mesto izlaska Sunca tačno na polovini puta od svog maksimalnog otklona do tačke istoka. kada će izići iznad Midžora. Sve ovo ne može da bude slučajnost. To su i danas značajni praznici: 23.april je Đurđevdan (po julijanskom kalendaru), 19.avgust je dan Preobraženja, to su dva od četiri dana koji se u anglosaksonskoj literaturi nazivaju „cross quarter days“. Na žalost, deo ograde malog kruga, koji bi trebalo da posluži kao orijentir u posmatranju izlaska Sunca (na dan Đurđevdana i Preobraženja) je uništen, pa ga danas nije moguće uočiti iz centra. Ali, ako bi se ograda rekonstruisala, makar do visine od 1/5m, to bi bilo moguće. Ipak, na obodu velikog kruga postoji još jedna gomila kamenja, koje štrči iz trave, baš na ovom pravcu, kada se gleda iz centra (nalazi se pored stabla jedne divlje kruške). Time je i ovaj pravac sasvim zadovoljavajuće definisan, ali ovo vodi zaključku da se manji krug odavno izišao iz upotrebe za posmatranja.

Svesni smo da ovaj lokalitet još uvek nije sasvim arheoastronomski istražen. Ne može ni da bude, sve dok se ne obavi arheološko istraživanje i ne utvrdi bar približno vreme njegovog nastanka.

Da nebismo previše pričali, prikazaćemo sve to na slikama:

Na slikama su astronomski značajni pravci, definisani na Bogovom gumnu

Kameni krugovi na planini Devici

Tajanstveni kameni krugovi na planini Devici najverovatnije su ostaci drevne opservatorije koja je našim precima služila za posmatranje kretanja Sunca i Meseca i pravljenje kalendara. Ovo je rezultat istraživanja tima stručnjaka predvođenih psihijatrom Aleksandrom Bajić, koja se već petnaestak godina bavi proučavanjem slovenske mitologije.

Megalitska opservatorija Kokino

Megalitska opservatorija Kokino blizu Kumanova, na severoistoku Makedonije, koju je NASA proglasila za jednu od četiri najstarije megalitske opservatorije u svetu.

Provedena ispitivanja i pronađeni artefakti (keramički tanjuri, amforoidne posude, kamene sjekire) pokazali su da lokalitet ima obilježja i mitske svete planine. Najinteresantniji elementi su prijestolja (tronovi). Postavljeni su tako da imaju pogled ka istočnom horizontu i predstavljaju sveto obredno mjesto. „Nišan“ je bio postavljen od dva okomita kamena bloka s procjepom između njih. Praćenje kretanja nebeskih tijela pomagalo je da se prave kalendari koji su služili za organiziranje poljoprivrednih i stočarskih aktivnosti, kao i za određivanje dana za izvođenje ritualnih plemenskih obreda vezani s kultom plodnosti, svetog braka, između Majke Zemlje i Sunca.

Zodijak iz Nakovane

Hrvatski znanstvenik dr. Stašo Forenbaher na arheološkom nalazištu Spila u Nakovani na Pelješcu otkrio je dijelove astrologove ploče iz 100. godine prije Krista. O tom iznimno rijetkom arheološkom nalazu, nazvanom Zodijak iz Nakovane, Forenbaher je nedavno, zajedno s kolegom dr. Alexanderom Jonesom, objavio rad u uglednom časopisu Journal for the History of Astronomy.

To je zapravo neočekivano otkriće proizašlo iz istraživanja ilirskog svetišta Spila. Podsjećam, u kolovozu 1999., zajedno s kanadskim kolegom dr. Timothyjem Kaiserom, u pećini Spila u zaseoku Nakovane blizu Orebića otkrio sam ilirsko svetište koje datira između 4. i 1. stoljeća prije Krista – prisjetio se dr. Stašo Forebaher, arheolog i antropolog s Instituta za antropologiju u Zagrebu.

Ulomci su pronađeni u špiljskom svetištu, zajedno s obiljem fine helenističke keramike. Rekonstrukcijom je utvrđeno da se radi o pločicama s ugraviranim zodijakalnim simbolima, najvjerojatnije o dijelovima “astrologove ploče” kakve su koristili antički astrolozi za tumačenje horoskopa svojim klijentima.

U svijetu su poznate samo četiri takve ploče. Astronomska i matematička znanja potrebna za zodijak nastala su u 2. stoljeću prije Krista.